Archive for August, 2006

McKenzie Smith scored on a one-yard plunge in the fourth quarter and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the New Orleans Saints 10-9 in a game played almost entirely by reserves Thursday night.
Late in the fourth quarter, Todd Bouman drove the Saints 54 yards in six plays. On first down from the one, Jamaal Branch scored to bring New Orleans within a point, 10-9.

Miami running back Sammy Morris will be suspended for the first four games of the regular season for violating the NFLs steroid policy, two newspapers reported Thursday night.
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel and the Palm Beach Post, in stories posted on their websites after the Dolphins defeated St. Louis 29-9 in their pre-season finale, both reported that Morris tested positive during the 2005 season for ephedrine, a banned stimulant.

Arizona rookie quarterback Matt Leinart left Thursday nights pre-season game against Denver with a sprained right shoulder.
The injury occurred when Leinart was sacked by Patrick Chukwurah late in the third quarter. He stayed in the game for one more play, completing a pass, before going to the sidelines.
Earlier in the game, Leinart directed an 87-yard touchdown drive, throwing 17 yards to Troy Walters for the score.

The Atlanta Braves acquired first baseman Daryle Ward from the Washington Nationals for a minor league pitcher late Thursday night.
Ward, who was hitting .311 with six homers, will serve as a left-handed pinch-hitter.
Hes one of the real accomplished pinch-hitters in the game right now, said Braves general manager John Schuerholz. Our bench was made stronger.

Annika Sorenstam was five strokes behind Maria Hjorth, who shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday for a one-shot lead over Dina Ammaccapane, Nina Reis and Brittany Lang.
Hjorth, seeking her third victory - and first since 1999, started from the 10th tee and had seven birdies - five on her back nine. She birdied Nos. 4, 5, 6 and 7, and walked away with another on No. 9.

Marcus Vick found a seam between two St. Louis defenders, stumbled backward yet still caught Cleo Lemons pass for his first touchdown of the pre-season.
Sometime in the next two days, Vick will find out if that effort helped him win a job.
On a night when backups got a final shot to show their worth before 53-man rosters are set Saturday, Vick and Lemon helped the Miami Dolphins beat the Rams 29-9 on Thursday in the pre-season finale for both teams.

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Duce Staley, amid speculation that his roster spot is in jeopardy, basically had an open audition in his teams final exhibition game, a 15-13 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
John Kasay kicked the last of his five field goals, a 29-yarder as time expired, to complete an unbeaten preseason for Carolina (4-0) and a winless one for Pittsburgh (0-4).

Lost all summer, Rex Grossman and the Chicago Bears finally found their way back to the end zone.
Grossman threw a six-yard touchdown pass to tight end Desmond Clark - the first TD by Chicagos first-team offence in the pre-season - to lead the Bears to a 20-7 exhibition win over the Cleveland Browns on Thursday night.

Steve McNair finally got his first touchdown pass with the Baltimore Ravens.
Mark Brunell? He finished the pre-season without leading the winless Washington Redskins to a single point. After a laboriously long drive - including a penalty by the Redskins on a field goal attempt - McNair hit Mark Clayton for a 15-yard touchdown Thursday night for one of the few highlights in Baltimores 17-10 victory over Washington.